The Day Care of Domino
by Joey Taylor
Summary: Jamieverse side stories. Overcrowded by the Pokemon that have come through the Spacial Rend, Kaiba builds the Day Care Centre and puts the only Trainer that works for him in charge. She looks after the Pokemon and trys to work out how this universe works.
1. The Grand Opening

Seto Kaiba couldn't believe he was doing this.

When he'd first hired the Pokemon Trainer known as Jamelia Francis and told her to bring in any Pokemon she found, he hadn't expected her to get so many so quickly.

The ground floor of the Kaiba Corp tower had begun to look like a menagerie.

So he'd purchased two warehouses which stood side by side and had them built to house the Pokemon that the Trainer was gathering. By his count she had sixteen, and they were of various shapes and sizes, and each had needed something different in the Day Care Centre, a pool, a wooded area, grass… the logistical nightmare had nearly given the CEO a headache on more then one occasion.

But now it was opening and it was finally out of his hands, to be watched over from a distance, but it was like any other building belonging to the company now, he'd keep an eye on it, but unlike other projects, he was putting in charge the one person who was most qualified.

Kaiba looked at the crowd forming, he could see Muto and his crowd near the front and found himself unsurprised, since the new Day Care Leader was living with Muto. Of course they'd be there to see their friend get her new job.

Now he just had to wait for…

"Izard!"

There it was.

His Day Care Leader flew overhead, on the back of her Charizard, leading a group of Flying Pokemon, who circled overhead once and flew into the Day Care via the open skylight, a huge, mechanically controlled pane of glass that slid open and shut to let air in and Flying Pokemon out.

There seemed to be a gap of five minutes, which made the CEO frown, since the Trainer had been supposed to come straight out, then the double doors opened, and there she stood, pausing for a moment in her Kaiba Corp flightsuit with her 'Glaceon' by her side, then she smiled and came to the side of her employer.

She was a loyal employee, a little headstrong, but it was understandable under the circumstances and she never stepped beyond her boundaries unless he tried to do something that she didn't like regarding the Pokemon. They'd butted heads over the Day Care so many times that he'd seriously considered firing her. Only the facts that the Pokemon were bringing in huge profit, he already had people working on a game based around the creatures, and she was the only one he knew who could possibly take care of the animals, had stopped him.

"Welcome one and all, to the opening of the Domino City Pokemon Day Care Centre!" The crowd roared, and the Trainer by his side got an expression he couldn't quite read, it was somewhere between amused and exasperated. "Open to all, and watched over by Pokemon Trainer Jamelia Francis." He paused to introduce the girl who bowed to the crowd, "This Centre is home to all of the Pokemon currently belonging to Kaiba Corp, and I ask, that you treat them with the same care you'd treat any animal."

He hadn't expected to have to give that spiel but Jamie had insisted and after seeing what some of her Pokemon could do he'd finally bowed to the plea, but more for the company's sake then hers. He didn't want any law suits on his back.

He and the Trainer walked in and he smirked as she paused to appreciate the place. From the double doors, it looked fantastic, the area spread out to look like a glade, he'd had his designers work on it, had redesigns several times and generally shocked everyone but Mokuba with how single minded he'd been on this project.

"Move Francis, others are allowed in."

The Trainer quite happily fled to the small group of Pokemon she considered 'her's' even though technically all the Pokemon in the Day Care belonged to her. Her friends soon joined her and were led to the largish pool at the back to be introduced to today's find.

It was a graceful blue and white Pokemon with a horn on it's head, a blue ball under it's chin, strange white stylized wing like ears and balls on it's tail that glittered in the light.

"She's a Dragonair." Jamie was saying, "A Dragon Type Pokemon, that can change the weather. She'd normally live in a sea or lake."

Then the crowd surged in and the peace was broken.

* * *

Jamie was actually wondering where Bakura had gone again.

He'd been inside the Day Care with Dragonair, which, like the other Pokemon, he'd 'found' in town, and had wished her luck before vanishing again.

She wasn't stupid, all those Galactic Team Members causing trouble around town were probably short of Pokemon and in her own world she would have frowned upon a Pokemon Thief with no exceptions.

But this wasn't her world, any Pokemon that were out of _THEIR_ hands was one less that could be used to attack innocent people who didn't have Pokemon because they were from this world.

"Jamie, you OK?"

The Trainer wheeled around, to look at her friends from this world.

She'd been dumped on the doorstep of the King of Games when she'd been caught up in the battle to stop Team Galactic catching Palkia. She'd been hit by Palkia's Spacial Rend and she hadn't been the only one. She knew that Palkia had been captured, that she'd failed to do anything to stop it, what she didn't know was how many other Grunts had been pulled through the Rends with their leader Cyrus.

She'd been found by Joey Wheeler, the best friend of Yugi Muto and had been living in the Spare Room in the Game Shop ever since, getting their help to look after her Pokemon while she lived there, as she had some rather big ones.

She'd gotten acquainted with Bakura when he'd brought a Houndour to her to look after. The Pokemon in question had gotten attached to Mokuba Kaiba and now followed the younger Kaiba brother around like a little lost puppy, which, if she was honest with herself, it was.

"I'm fine, honest, but I might go for a swim, check on our Water type guests."

"Go, it looks like everything's going well here."

Jamie grinned, slipped out of her flightsuit, to reveal the black and blue swimming costume she was wearing underneath and ran down to the wooden platform and dove into the water, breathing deeply as she hit the water.

For anyone else, this would have resulted in surfacing and coughing.

For Jamie, who had been Chosen by Suicune and given the gift of 'Water's Trust', it was a chance for her lungs to get used to the change in what she was breathing. She didn't know how it worked, but she could go from breathing air to breathing water without blinking.

Something splashed into the water next to her. Something blue and white.

The Dragonair.

* * *

Joey had seen her dive in and sighed.

The first time he'd seen her vanish underwater, she'd been gone so long that they'd been really worried about her. Then she'd surfaced with her huge serpent and a huge grin on her face.

He was certain she went under to relax and think things over, after all, above surface the world was a very different place to the one she was used to, but below surface the creatures were slightly different but a lot of things were the same.

Tea picked up and folded up the younger teen's flightsuit.

They could guess where Jamie would be spending most of her time from now on. She felt so relaxed here that she'd come home from setting up yesterday with the biggest smile they'd ever seen on her face.

Tea guessed that to the Trainer, the Day Care was a place where she could almost feel like she was home. The Dragon Type Pokemon they'd been introduced to followed the Trainer in and the gang found seats at the picnic benches around the pool, a Butterfree fluttering past them and Mokuba's Houndour barrelled past.

"Hey guys!" Mokuba waved and grinned, his Houndour clambering up onto an empty part of the seat and then onto the table, before padding over to Yugi and licking him on the face.

"Hi Mokuba." Yugi waved back. "This place is amazing."

Mokuba beamed at him, "I know, we worked hard. Jamie and my brother almost came to blows."

Joey snorted, unsurprised, "That's how Jamie is."

"Houndour, get down." Mokuba scolded, "I've noticed." He directed to Joey then chased his Pokemon off in the direction of a group of people gathered around an Onix who was looking a little lost and confused. It used Dig to get away, leaving the crowd disappointed until they spotted Gaia and came to bother the sleeping Torterra.

"I hope Jamie surfaces soon."

* * *

**Author Note – So begins the side stories of the Day Care Centre of Domino, I have lots of little stories in my head for this one, but I want to get on with the big story in Spacial Rend, so they'll all go here. **

**Also, (is feeling cheeky after someone asked if they could play with my Trainer) if anyone feels like writing a story to go here, feel free, any information you'll need is at joeytaylorsocs./Domino+Day+Care **

**Remember, just because the centre was attacked in the main verse, doesn't mean that the Day Care will end there. There is a lot more to this story.**

**BTW I own Jamie, I own the Day Care Centre, I unfortunately don't own much else.**


	2. Tomonari

Bakura wasn't sure when and why he'd developed a friendship with the young Pokemon Trainer who lived with the Pharaoh. He knew he'd started giving her Pokemon in an attempt to reel her in, but wasn't sure when it had gone from 'get her on my side' to an actual friendship.

It wasn't even something he was maintaining for his host, and he hadn't realised it he was friends with the girl until the attack, when he'd nearly put himself in mortal peril against his own best interests, when he'd done what she'd told him and fled with her Pokemon…

The Ra damned Pharaoh knew it too, or at least suspected, revealing a weak spot to his enemy, but, unlike his predecessor, he didn't attack the friends of enemies, although how much of that was because of the runt, he didn't know.

He'd been following the group since they'd left the hospital, unsurprised that he could sense magic from the runt. He wasn't stupid, between the magic he was sensing and the way Aisu was treating the runt, he was certain that was the Pharaoh tagging along with his friend.

When they'd entered the Day Care Centre, Bakura had slipped around the side, entering one of the holes that had yet to be filled in and dodged around the workmen working on the staff room, to the almost perfectly secure, except for the broken lock, Pokeball room.

It had cost him to get these two back for her, his host would require hospital treatment, but while he was in control he could ignore it, he'd had worse.

"Miss Francis! You should see this!"

Bakura swore in ancient Egyptian as the Trainer came straight through, pausing when she spotted Bakura, looking quickly over her shoulder, then grinning and rushing over. "'Kura? What're you doing here? Can't Yugi sense you?"

"There's too much Shadow Magic swimming about him today, he couldn't sense mine through his own." Bakura let the 'Kura go, as he had for the last couple of weeks, since he wouldn't let her call him Ryou. "Are you alright now?"

"Tired still." Jamie sighed, "And I'm having trouble thinking straight at the moment, but nothing that slows me down too much."

"You shouldn't be here, you should be resting."

"Don't you start 'Kura. It's bad enough from them." The Trainer frowned.

"Trying to keep you on a leash?" Bakura growled.

"No." Jamie hastily reassured him, "Just not used to the resilience of Trainers." She looked at him, "So, you here to check on me? Or on the Day Care?"

"Actually." Bakura gave her the two Pokemon, "I was going to leave them on the shelf."

"Which ones?" Jamie asked, excited.

Bakura grinned, "Guess."

"Give me a clue, please."

"Hmmm." Bakura was smirking now, "I suppose."

"Please?"

"One's white and blue and long and the other's red and yellow and blue and long."

"You didn't?" Jamie grinned, "Dragonair and Milotic?"

Bakura just nodded.

"You're the best!" Jamie glomped him, then let go quickly as she felt his wince. "Sorry…" She gave him an honestly worried look, "You're hurt."

"Nothing serious." Bakura reassured her, knowing that she wouldn't push it if he didn't push her exhaustion from drowning. Trainers were good at recovering from a normally fatal thing like death and she didn't know how far humans in this world could be pushed.

"Get it looked at, ok?"

"I will."

She smiled, "Thanks 'Kura."

"Be careful, your enemies aren't working alone." Bakura warned her.

"Don't antagonise Yugi's enemies." Jamie returned the warning, "Their leader has a Millennium Item."

Bakura nodded, ruffling the girl's hair. "Stay safe kid."

"I will, if you do."

Since they both knew the other was going to get into danger, it was a safe enough statement.

"See ya later 'Kura." Jamie left, still smiling as she looked at the Pokeballs and Bakura slipped out the way he'd come, following the group until they entered the Game Shop to get their Duel Disks.

He didn't understand the nature of his friendship with Jamelia, but he would be damned if he was going to let the Pharaoh endanger his friend.

Jamie wouldn't die to help the Pharaoh if Bakura could help it.

* * *

**Author note: - Tomonari - developing friendship**


	3. Shadow Thief

Author Note: - Joey Taylor: - I dont' own Nanoha Miko, she belongs to Ray Venn Hakubi, who wrote this story and I liked it so much it had to go in the 'Day Care of Domino'. However, I have permission, so I might use her in the future, squee

* * *

Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh is property of Takahashi Kazuki, and Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and GameFreak. This is a work of fanfiction, produced for non-profit purposes and with no intention of material gain.

It just makes me feel special.

* * *

The King of Thieves smiled to himself as he loitered in the shadows of an alleyway, gently tossing a small red-and-white ball into the air and catching it again. The Flygon within was stored as pure energy, it had no sense of the inertia or changes in momentum its' orblike prison was undergoing. Momentarily, Bakura wondered what it felt like to be held in that state. The Pokemon didn't object, so it couldn't be as unpleasant as living in the Darkness, but they always looked... regretful when it was time to return to their pokeballs.

Perhaps it was something akin to the feeling he got when Ryou was in control of their shared body. He'd never bothered to reveal himself to the poor boy, knowing that it would do more damage than good to associate with his own light half, and so when he was a passenger it always felt somewhat... floaty. Bakura fully recognised his own evil, and perhaps that was why he felt no compunction against caring for his host. He truly hoped that Ryou would have a fulfilling and enjoyable after-life once Bakura had gotten what he wanted... had wanted. He wasn't so sure he desired it any more, what had once seemed like a perfect route to revenge was starting to seem petty and self-defeating... but everything was in motion now, and he could no more stop it than señor bandanna could play cards. He had put his soul into Zorc's destiny as fully as Yugi had embraced the cards, or Devlan his dice.

Or Jamelia her pokemon, for that matter. Bakura scowled at the thought of the foreign woman, not because of any dislike but simply because she was... inconvenient. She was supposed to be a useful ally, perhaps even a pet, but to his consternation, Bakura King of Thieves was starting to realise he would feel more than passing regret when she left. Following her was completely out of the question – it would mean taking Zorc's power into her world, and while it was certainly well populated with heroes, there was no Millennial power to counter the dark one's might. It would throw both worlds into chaos and imbalance, this having too much Light, and the other being steeped in Darkness.

Footsteps behind him broke Bakura from his reverie, and he stepped into deeper darkness, cloaking himself in Shadow to hide his host's unnaturally pale skin and white hair. Looking back, he saw two of the foreigners who were chasing Jamie bickering, their ridiculous silver uniforms standing out in the darkness like red robes on a white cliff. One of them, a man in his late twenties, had backed his junior up against a wall and was lecturing her harshly. The girl was barely a child, younger than Jamelia – twelve, perhaps thirteen. Fourteen at a stretch.

She looked like she was about to cry.

"Give it to me, before the boss finds out!" The man was saying. "I can't believe you hid something like this from us! Such a powerful Pokemon is only supposed to be given to Commanders, and Mercury will have both our heads if she finds out you hid a Ninetales from her!"

"But... she's mine, from before! I... I was told I could keep the pokemon I came with..." The girl replied, stammering.

"Just hand it over. Trust me, it's better this way. I'll get her replaced from the stores with something befitting your rank, Grunt Miko." He snatched the pokeball away from her and clipped it to his own belt. The girl sniffled, but nodded, wiping her eyes on the back of her uniform sleeve. "It'll all be fine. I'll see if I can get you something special, maybe a Zubat or something, to replace it."

"Th.. thank you, sempai..." She replied, swallowing her tears. In the shadows, Bakura scowled. The girl was with Team Galactic, but she was really cut up over losing that Pokemon. She must care about it a lot. He knew that Ninetails was a pretty rare Pokemon, the sort that would normally only be given to higher-tier members of the Team, but it seemed like the higher you rose in the organisation, the crueller and less attached to your pokemon you were.

Well, he wasn't going to try and convince her to spy for them with her superior there, but at least he could make sure that her Ninetails got well looked after.

"We'd better get back to regional HQ and make a report. Come on, you know I can't let you get lost." The senior member turned away, letting the girl, Miko, stand up away from the wall to follow him. Bakura ghosted forwards, smiling to himself at the challenge the pair presented. Five Pokemon on two trainers, walking one behind the other, without either one noticing the heist?

Figuring he had about three minutes until the two Galactics reached a main thoroughfare, he quickly worked out a plan. Getting ahead of them was no problem as he simply shadow-walked around them, before tossing a drinks can under-arm at a pile of fence planks leaning against a wall. They fell to the ground with a clatter, attracting both Galactic's attention, reinforced when he shaped his voice and threw it to a large wheelie-bin beside the planks.

"Pika!" The sound made both Galactics jump, then look at each other. The senior gave an avaricious grin before running in that direction, grabbing a pokeball from his belt. While they were seperated, Bakura moved silently to stand behind Miko and deftly removed the three pokeballs from her belt, melting back into the darkness before her partner turned round and demanded her help with the bin.

"Ah, coming..." Miko stammered, hurrying over. He directed her to grab the other end and heave. Perfect. They made this almost too easy... He simply walked up behind the man and, upon noticing the style of belt he wore, cut the ball case away with a knife. Vanishing into the darkness once more, Bakura made his way to the Daycare Centre.

**Part Two:**

Jamelia Francis hummed to herself as she worked, which would have been rather disturbing to anyone who had walked in at that exact moment, since she was doing it about ten feet under water. Not that anyone was likely to walk in, since it was long past closing time. Still, the Dragonair Bakura had brought her two days ago was in serious need of some grooming, and flat-out refused to come out from under the water unless she was going to curl up around one of the roofing spars. If Jamie didn't know better, she'd think it missed its trainer, but since it was one of the Pokemon Bakura had brought her, it was almost certainly a Galactic acquisition. That group had been something of a surprise – Scyther, Dragonair and Ninetails all held in Dusk balls, along with a more normal set of three Great balls holding two Bidoofs and a Chatot.

Still, now that the sky dragon had deigned to permit her to groom it, it wasn't shy of enjoying itself, rubbing up against the wire brush and rumbling deep in its throat. She'd never seen a Dragonair with ticks before, but when she'd tried to remove the small biting insects, the Pokemon itself had stopped her, communicating that she should leave them be. Sure enough, the bugs had dropped off a few hours later.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the water, which a moment later Jamie managed to translate into angry shouting and someone breaking the door down. The Dragonair froze, becoming completely still before swimming rapidly upwards, not stopping when it reached the surface but swimming into the air. Jamie kicked up a moment later, hauling herself out of the water and rushing towards the door.

"Hiryu! Hiryu, oh, thank Darkrai, you're okay." The girl who was apparently the cause of the commotion was standing just inside the entrance. The Daycare was quiet at this time of night, a small mercy, since the invading teen appeared to be a member of Team Galactic. She was also clutching the Dragonair's neck closely, while the Pokemon rubbed against her cheek.

"Excuse me, we're closed." Jamie felt compelled to say, although it was obvious this person wasn't a customer. She was small, compactly built and barely on the cusp of womanhood at twelve, maybe thirteen years of age. Her straight, black hair hung loose in a pageboy style, and apart from her uniform she looked to be local, or possibly from Johto, but her eyes were hidden behind tinted glasses.

"I don't care. You think I care? I'm from the In... I mean, Team Galactic goes where it will!" The girl glared at Jamie. "You stole from the Team, and I, Po... Galactic Grunt Miko, have been chosen to teach you a lesson! Hiryu! Dragon Pulse!" She pointed, but the Dragonair bumped her on the cheek admonishingly and let go, hovering near the ceiling instead of doing as ordered. "Hiryu?" Miko blinked, looking up at the dragon.

"I've been looking after her, so she won't attack me." Jamie told her. "If you think we've wronged you, I'm sorry, but your boss is trying to destroy the world!"

"I don't care about that, I just want my... our Pokemon back!" Miko told her.

"Why don't you battle, with the Pokemon as the prize?" Bakura stepped out of the shadows, smirking slightly to himself. "It's a tradition here..." He told them, his voice dark.

"'Kura..." Jamie's tone held a note of warning, but he continued.

"After all, if you're not willing to fight for them... you deserve them to get stolen." He continued. "Or don't you have any left to challenge with?" He finished, his voice saccharine with confidence. Jamie realised what he was doing – trying to scare the Grunt off before this got dangerous.

"I..." Miko stammered, wrong-footed. "I have Pokemon. I'll do it. Jamelia Frances, I ch-challenge you to a three Pokemon battle, with the Team Galactic Pokemon as the prize!" She pulled a Dusk Ball out of her pocket and primed it, pointing it at the Daycare leader. For all her stance, though, she didn't look very confident. There was something strange about her, and not just her verbal slips.

"Alright. Then I, Jamelia Frances, formerly of Littleroot Town, Aspiring Champion, accept your challenge! Go, Aisu!" Jamie called forth her Glaceon, knowing that she already had what was probably the Grunt's only Fire type, the Ninetails.

"Kiman, fulfil my trust!" Miko summoned her first Pokemon, and both Jamie and Bakura did a double-take at the Butterfree that came forth. It looked so... weak, fluttering its wings. "Poisonpowder!" The Butterfree rose up a little, fluttering its wings until it kicked up a cloud of dust.

"Aisu, Icy Wind, then Ice Shard!" Jamie commanded, and the ice-type obeyed, blowing the dust away and sending the flying bug tumbling through the air.

"Kiman, Confusion and Swift!" Miko ordered, and her Pokemon obeyed, the complex patterns on its wings swirling and drawing Aisu's gaze until the Glaceon's eyes started swirling.

"Aisu, resist it! Blizzard!" The Glaceon shook itself down, eyes flashing as it called on snow to start filling the atrium. It started to fade from view, but Kiman was there too fast, its physical attack striking the ice squirrel-fox squarely on the nose. "Aisu, Ice Fang!"

"Kiman, back off!" Miko warned, but it was too late, and the Glaceon struck, its needle fangs coated in ice that forced Miko to recall her injured Pokemon. "Damn it... Kithila, step up the game with White-out!" She tossed out her next Pokemon, another surprise that caught Jamie off guard. An albino Glaceon stood on the field, shrugging off the pelting blizzard even as the winds throwing the ice around started to backflow, the snow replaced quickly with a thick fog.

"What the? But no Pokemon can..." Jamie stammered as she realised what was happening.

"My Kithila is special. A Glaceon, born under a crescent moon while the snow is fresh on the ground, her pure-white coat is unique, and makes her very good at hiding in the mist!" Miko boasted. "Even your Glaceon's heat-sensitive eyes won't find her." The fog muffled all sound, and the Galactic trainer could have been anywhere in the room.

"They won't have to! Aisu, Icy Wind!" Jamie tried to blow the fog away like she had the Butterfree's poisonpowder, but it didn't work as more thick fog just replaced that which was displaced.

"Kithila, Swift!" Miko called the deadly second part of Kithila's combination attack. White-out made it almost impossible to find or strike at the albino, while Swift never missed, the attack manifesting as a flurry of razor-sharp ice stars that lashed out. Jamie felt one of them flash past her cheek, and a section of her hair fell away even as she heard Aisu's yelp of pain. Above them, Hiryu growled.

"Aisu, return!" Jamie called, the ball's power finding her Pokemon as surely as Kithila's attack. "Iblis, I choose you!" She decided to go for broke and stop pussy-footing around. "Flamethrower!"

The Charizard roared, even its massive form indistinct in the fog, as it reared back to unleash the blanket flame attack. There was an animal cry of pain, and Kithila became visible again as the attack burned the fog away and incapacitated the Ice pokemon.

"Kithila..." Miko muttered, darkly, as she recalled her Pokemon. If Hiryu and April wouldn't fight for her, she was limited in her options against the Fire type... the two Pokemon she had left were both Bug types, doubly vulnerable to the Charizard's attacks. "I guess I have no choice... Fuujin! Forgive me!" She called out, tossing her third and final Pokemon for the battle out.

"Scyther..." Fuujin growled, glaring up at the giant dragon. "Scy..." Its angry vocalisations made the draconic Fire-Flyer rumble deep in its chest, a dark laugh.

"Fuujin, Double Team, then Tailwind!" Miko commanded, and the Mantis Pokemon rose into the air, dashing from point to point almost as fast as its wings were beating until it appeared that there were six of them, dancing around in the breeze that kicked up.

"Charizard, attack with Fire Blast!" Jamie commanded, and Iblis obeyed, the dragon's whole body glowing red before it hurled the massive attack at the centre of the grouping of illusionary bugs.

"Air Cutter!" Miko ordered, and Iblis yelped in shock as crescent blades of wind struck its back from above. "Silver Wind!"

"Iblis, Submission!" Jamie countered when she realised that this Scyther, Fuujin, was focussed on Special attacks rather than the more traditional physical ones. Even as Iblis shrugged off the glittering rain of insect-scales, charged and attempted to grapple his opponent, the Scyther seemed to speed up even more and dodged over its head. "Ember!"

"Double-team!" Miko countered, and Fuujin evaded the second attack as well.

Bakura watched from the side-lines, and couldn't help but be impressed. From his experience, none of the other Galactic members had been this skilled... nor had they given their Pokemon names, as this Miko had. This... He checked the card he'd swiped from her trainer belt as she broke the door down... this Nanoha was far more than just a Grunt, even though according to her ID card she was only thirteen years old. It was a little out of date, though, as far as he could tell, glancing up in time to see Fuujin evade a second Fire Blast. It identified her as 'Nanoha Miko, Research Assistant', and as an employee of the Goldenrod Institute of PokeBiology as well as listing her as a member of the Goldenrod Pokemon Gym and an honorary Game Park Ranger.

Which made Bakura wonder what a Pokemon Researcher was doing with Team Galactic, and why she still had this ID card if she'd given up that life.

"What do we get if you lose?" He said, suddenly, appearing behind Miko. To her credit, she didn't let him break her concentration, blurting out an increasingly panicked command before replying.

"Wh... what do you mean?" She asked, glancing away from the battle.

"If you win, you take our Pokemon. What are you going to give us if you lose, Nanoha?" He asked, taking her hand and putting the ID card in it, closing her fingers over the plastic. She bit her lip, looking shocked, and then turned her attention back to the battle.

"Double-team, then Air Cutter." She ordered again, even though the wind blades were doing little more than annoy her opponent. "I... I'll explain everything, if I lose." She told him, and he nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Iblis, Flash!" Jamelia called out, finally, and the flame on the end of the Charizard's tail burst into a raging fury for a split-second, making Miko cry out in pain and cover her eyes. Fuujin tumbled away, shielding its own eyes with the blade of one forearm and giving Iblis the chance to finally close its jaws around the bug's body. Iblis held, however, just holding Fuujin without seriously injuring him, then lowered his head to Miko's level, giving her a level look.

"I..." Miko made a strangled noise, on the verge of tears. "I concede." She fell to her knees, staring at the floor. "I concede," she whispered again. "please, don't kill him..."

"I'm not going to kill him." Jamie frowned at her. "You've lost, why would I go that far? Now, did I hear you say something about explaining..?" As she spoke, Iblis released the Scyther, which shook itself off, realising it wasn't badly injured and moved to comfort its trainer.

"I... y-yeah..." Miko nodded and hugged her Pokemon close, closing her eyes before hauling herself to her feet, not releasing Fuujin. "Can we... sit down somewhere..?" She looked between Jamie and Bakura, and eventually the trainer nodded.

"I'll make some tea." Bakura added, vanishing into the kitchen without another sound.

**Part 3:**

Miko stared at the brushed steel surface of the table in the Daycare's small kitchenette. A moment later, a cup of green tea appeared in her vision. It was strange, Bakura hadn't seemed like the type to make the tea.

"So. Would you like to explain?" Jamie asked, from where she was sitting opposite, a second cup of tea already cooling in front of her.

"Not really..." Miko mumbled, before lifting her head. "My name is Nanoha Miko, I'm from Goldenrod City in Johto. I'm... an intern, I guess, at the Institute for PokeBiology. It's not really official, but I'm Professor Itoshiki's assistant... or I was."

"What happened?"

"Team Galactic moved into the area. They set up a base and started buying out all our researchers. Those they couldn't buy, they threatened or blackmailed into leaving. It was obvious they were up to not good, but... none of us was strong enough to face them, and Gold has vanished." She picked up her mug and took a sip, hiding her mouth behind her mug. "They came for me two weeks ago, they didn't think I was worth the effort of bribing. They just tried to take my Demise from me... she was amazing, she defeated three of them before SubCommander Phobos showed up... Phobos is so strong, I couldn't face her. So I took my chances and... I thought, maybe, if I could make myself important enough, I could sabotage Team Galactic somehow... but then Mercury came here and Phobos had to give up some of her grunts."

"So you were assigned to this Mercury's command? What are they working on?" Bakura asked, from where he'd decided to lean against the counter, his long, white hair pooling slightly atop it.

"I... I don't know any details, I'm only a Grunt, but... they're doing something with Palkia and this world, and... they want you." She looked at Jamie as she said this. "They've got something big planned, and they want you out of the way before they do it."

"What will happen to you now you've failed?" Jamie asked, slightly concerned.

"I... if I'm careful, nothing..." Miko shook her head. "I... I just game to get Demise, Hanako and Hiryu back... they don't know I'm here..."

"You came here to challenge me alone?" Jamie sounded almost impressed. "You must have known you couldn't hope to defeat me with those kinds of Pokemon. I'm League material, I could probably lead a gym if I wanted to."

"I had to try... Raven would never forgive me if I let something happen to Demise..." Miko sighed. "And Hanako and Hiryu... they trusted me... I can't betray that..."

"Raven? Is that Itoshiki-sensei?" Jamie asked.

"No... Raven is Demise' mother..." Miko smiled, a little tiredly. "She told Demise to protect me, but... " She trailed off. "Where is she? You had Hiryu, but..."

"Demise is the Scyther?" Bakura asked. Miko nodded.

"I had to confine her to her PokeBall, she was tearing the place up." Jamie told her. "I don't know where your Ninetails is."

"I do." Miko smiled again. "Demise was probably trying to get back to me... she's so loyal it scares me sometimes... the thought of what she might do..." She shuddered. "Fuujin is less worrisome, her scythes are blunt, but..."

"Wait, your Scyther's blades are blunt?" Jamie asked. "Your Dragonair had ticks, too. You're not looking after them very well." She looked a little angry.

"Fuujin was born that way." Miko gave her a dark look. "If his mother hadn't brought him to me, he would have died, there's no way he can hunt with blunt scythes, but I've trained him to get around that. As for Hiryu's ticks, they can't hurt him. They just feed for a couple of days and drop off, it's just their nature. It would be like putting your Charizard down because his tail is on fire. Don't tell me about looking after Pokemon!"

"Oh, so you do have a backbone." Bakura smirked. "I was wondering after that display with your 'sempai' outside earlier."

Miko slumped again. "I... I'm not strong. I can't go against him directly, and if I refuse him then he'll just tell Commander Mercury and I'll lose everyone..."

"Talking about losing Pokemon, where _did_ you hide those three?" Bakura asked, frowning slightly.

"Um..." Miko blinked, then blushed. "Kiman lives in my pocket... Fuujin is here normally..." She pulled a pendant out from under her shirt. It was a large piece of jade in a silver setting, but when she turned it over, Jamie and Bakura could see that it was actually a locket. Miko popped the catch and took what appeared to be half a miniature pokeball out and put it on the table before pressing the button. It expanded, popping into shape. "Bill-sensei made it for me... I'm friends with his cousin, kind of."

"Oh, wow. That's amazing. Do you think you could get him to make me one?" Jamie asked, eagerly, leaning forward to look.

"Um... well... that is..." Miko stammered, leaning back, looking somewhat intimidated. "It's.. not really..."

"Ah... oh, yeah." Jamie blinked, and sighed. "No way back to the old world, so no way to talk to Bill. Sorry."

"It... it's okay." Miko mumbled. "The other two..." She started, then lifted her leg and dropped her hand to fiddle with her sock for a moment, before taking a leather strap from her ankle. "I wear these... each one holds a single pokeball." She paused. "Blast. I shouldn't have told you that..." She put her head in her hands.

"Don't worry, we're not really Pokemon thieves. Bakura is just... well, he has his own way of doing the right thing." Jamie smiled, reaching over and tapping under the younger girl's chin to make her look up. Bakura, for his part, looked distinctly uncomfortable to have someone singing his praises.

"What will you do now?" He deflected the attention skillfully.

"Go back to the base... sneak in. I'll keep working at finding out what's going on." Miko smiled, a bit weakly. "Do what I can. I'll... try and let you know what I find out, but.."

"Don't worry." Jamie smiled. "If you get caught, we'll come and bail you out."


	4. Normality

Author Note: - This chapter belongs to Ray Venn Hakubi, who wrote this story and I liked it so much it had to go in the 'Day Care of Domino',

* * *

Disclaimer: Yu-gi-oh is property of Takahashi Kazuki, and Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and GameFreak. This is a work of fanfiction, produced for non-profit purposes and with no intention of material gain.

It just makes me feel special.

* * *

Jamelia frowned to herself as she studied the small rodent that was attacking one of her spare PokeBalls. The ball had fallen off the shelf she kept them on and rolled under a cabinet. The rodent looked somewhat like a ratatta, but it was much smaller – only a couple of inches long – with huge, round ears and a straight tail.

"Um... excuse me..?" There was a soft voice at the office door and a quiet knock. Looking up, Jamie saw probably the last thing she expected to see in the Daycare at this time of a saturday afternoon – a perfectly ordinary Japanese schoolgirl.

"Yes? Is there something I can help with..?" Jamie asked, catching the rodent with a dart of her hand and standing up, cupping it in her hands.

"Yes, I... oh! What a cute mouse!" The girl squeaked. "Can I hold him?"

"Uh... sure." Jamie blinked. So it was a Mouse. "It's wild though."

"I don't think so." The girl smiled, holding out her hands. Jamie deposited the small, brown creature in them. "He's sitting much too still. I think he must be someone's escaped pet."

"I'm glad I found him, then." Jamie chuckled. "Otherwise someone would probably have eaten him. I don't have anything to put him in though..."

"A cardboard box would do, if you put some holes in it." The girl smiled. "What about that one?" She pointed at a brown cardboard box on the desk.

"OK." Jamie nodded, emptying the pencils out of it and piercing a few holes in the side. The girl slid the mouse into the box and closed the lid.

"We should put some straw in there for him or something." She passed the box to Jamie, who nodded.

"It's in the store-room. What was it you wanted help with?" She smiled.

"Oh... um..." The girl blushed slightly. "Well, um... do you have to be special to understand the Pokemon?"

"Mm... I guess." Jamie replied, suddenly guarded. If this was another person here to beg her to sell one of her charges into private care...

"That's great." The girl smiled. "Well, um, not really, there's a man-shaped one with a big nose complaining about some children trying to steal his coin..."

"Oh! That would be Hypno." Jamie smiled. "I guess hearing him is pretty normal, he's a psychic type..."

"Don't say normal!" The girl exclaimed, exasperatedly.

"Er... Ok..." Jamie mumbled, flinching slightly in surprise. "I'd... er, better go talk to those children..." She wormed her way around the girl and headed over to the entrance. "You children, leave him alone." It took her about five minutes to sort out the kids and get Hypno's coin-on-a-string back, then she turned around to find the girl from before standing about three inches behind her.

Needless to say, Jamie jumped a mile.

"If Hypno is psychic, can he do love fortunes?" The girl asked.

"Don't sneak up on me like that." Jamie grumbled. "And yes, he can do love fortunes. Hopes and dreams are his specialty."

In the time it took for the Daycare Leader to blink, the girl was already kneeling in front of the Pokemon and bowing to ask for his guidance.

"Great Hypno, can you tell me if it's true?" She asked, eagerly.

"Hmm... Hypno..." The pokemon mumbled, swinging it's coin and concentrating. The girl's eyes were drawn to the pendant and she started to fall into a trance. "Hyp... no...." It repeated, slowly.

"Oh. That doesn't mean anything." The girl mumbled, disappointedly. "Onapetto..?"

"Um... miss." Jamie tried to interrupt.

"I wonder if it means... but no..." the girl mumbled, absorbed with herself.

"Excuse me..?" Jamie tried again.

"She might treat him like that... oh, Sensei..."

"Miss!" Jamie half-shouted. What was this girl's problem? Was she crushing on her teacher or something?

"Huh?" The girl blinked at her, innocently.

"What's your name? Did you have a reason for coming here before Hypno distracted you?"

"Oh!" The girl smiled. "My name's Nami. Nami Hitou!"

"Urk." Jamelia broke.

"Um... miss Frances?" Nami asked, waving her hand in front of the Daycare Leader's face. "Was it something I said?" She asked Hypno when there was no response. The hypnotist Pokemon shrugged, and the girl sighed and left.

Hypno scratched his head, watching her go. She seemed fairly normal, anyway, at least compared to most of the people who came in here.

"Z... z... zetsuboushita..." Jamelia twitched.

* * *

A/N: In the Japanese, her name is read as 'Hitou Nami'. If you compress them together, you get 'hitonami', which means 'run-of-the-mill', or 'ordinary'. Nami is property of Kumeta Koji and the 'Don't Say Normal!' Nami Hitou Fan-Club.


	5. Ashes

**Author Note: - Author Note: - Sorry for the long time. Cwork, Nanowrimo and writing a complete summery of the history of the Clanverse timeline took up far too much time.**

**For anyone who is still interested in what I call the Yu-Gi-Oh: - Otherworld Edition, here is a bunch of missing scenes from Spacial Rend. The next fics, which run concurrently, Sheer Cold and Sacred Fire, have now been posted. You can reach them from my profile.**

**Sorry for the long delay but all I can say... Let the games begin again...**

**LINE_RECGONITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN**

"_Yami?"_ Yugi's voice was hesitant. When he'd first gotten the Puzzle back after risking his life in the Death Duel against Joey, Yugi had thanked Yami for letting him duel alone, but Yami hadn't responded to Yugi's gratefulness.

Now, as Mai trounced the actor who was trying to marry her, Yugi approached Yami again, afraid that Yami was mad at him.

In a way, the King was.

When Yugi had asked Yami to step aside, believing that he would have more luck getting through to Joey then Yami would, he had promised Yami that if it got too dangerous he would switch back with him, only to break his promise, removing the Puzzle when Marik had, through Joey, sworn that he was going to kill Yugi with direct assault cards and Yami had tried to take control back, only to then hand the Puzzle over to his possessed best friend, forcing Yami to become a spectator in a duel he hadn't even envisioned in his worst nightmares and watch helplessly as Yugi attempted to sacrifice his life in order to save Joey's.

If it hadn't been for Joey's quick thinking it was likely that, even with Tsunami's help, Yugi would be dead.

But then at the same time Yami was proud of his hikari for what he had managed to accomplish on his own. It had been Yugi that had gotten through to Joey, Yugi who had managed to trick Marik into the final push that had allowed Joey to finally break free, Yugi who had been brave enough to face down death without fear…

"_Yami, I'm sorry I broke my promise."_ Yugi sent as Mai summoned one of her Amazon monsters. _"I'm sorry I forced you to stand on the sidelines of a Duel where I could have been killed, but I had to do it. I had to save Joey. One of us had to lose and it was better it was me than Joey."_

Any other time, any other promise and Yami wouldn't have been so mad. But for Yugi to come so close to death and for Yami to have no choice but to watch the Duel unfold, feel Yugi's pain, hear his hikari's pained cries… it had been torture…

"_I didn't want to die but I couldn't – I wouldn't send Joey to the depths to save my own life. I couldn't… I'm sorry." _Yugi continued when Yami didn't respond, though this time it was more that Yami wasn't sure how to respond without snapping at his light.

'_Yugi… I understand why you did what you did.'_ And he did, truly, _'But you promised me, promised me you wouldn't let yourself be killed and you nearly died! I nearly lost you forever and all I could do was watch…'_

Yugi slipped into the corridor between his mind and Yami's where the Pharaoh was waiting for him.

Yugi opened his mouth, paused, closed it again and looked away. Somehow it was easier to apologise over the link than it was face to face like this.

"Yugi…" Yami started, paused, walked over to his hikari and put his hand on the teen's shoulder, then started again, "Yugi, do you know what scared me most today?"

When Yugi didn't respond the Pharaoh continued, "It wasn't that Joey was under Marik's control. It wasn't that Marik could force Joey into using direct assault cards on us when they were illegal. It was that you willingly threw your life away and there was nothing that I could do to save you."

"But…" Yugi gave him a startled look.

"I know what Joey means to you." Yami told his hikari with a certainty that made Yugi feel uncomfortable, "Even if I hadn't before the duel, I know now, but 'what if's' keep running through my mind. What if Joey hadn't broken free of Marik's control? What if Joey hadn't managed to grab your key? What if Jamie and Tsunami had never made it to the docks? You're more important to me than anything else, even regaining my memories is unimportant compared to your safety."

"But I'm…" Yugi trailed off, looking away again.

"You're?" Yami prodded.

"I'm nothing. Just your vessel…"

Anger flared through Yami, causing Yugi to flinch away from the Pharaoh's hand. Yami had thought that Yugi had gotten over this and that the hikari had realised how much he meant to all of his friends. The Pharaoh was willing to bet that this was Marik's fault. Obviously Marik's constant diminishing of Yugi had gotten through to the boy, as had been the intention.

"You have never been just my vessel." Yami corrected him forcefully, "Even before I knew you as I do now, your friends were there for you. Tea has always been your friend and you earned Joey and Tristan's friendship on your own. All of us would be devastated if you died. Did you not think about that when you were so willing to throw yourself in the ocean?"

"Yami…" Yugi trailed off when Yami visibly forced the anger away.

"Just… think the next time you go to do something like that, please?" Yami asked, no almost pleaded with his light, "I couldn't bear to lose you and I know your friends couldn't either."

"Alright Yami." Yugi nodded, giving his dark a small smile, "I'll try to remember."

"Hopefully there won't be a next time." Yami sighed, "Now that the finals are coming up, all the Duellists are going to be in one place."

"Uh huh." Yugi nodded, glancing over his shoulder as someone in the real world shook Yugi's body less than gently. "Something's going on out there…"

"I bet it's that actor." Yami seemed ill amused by the man.

"We'd better go and see."

**LINE_RECOGNTION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN**

"_Do you think she'll forgive us?"_

Yugi's plaintive question as they walked to where the next round was about to be decided made Yami wince, _'Give her time. We hid a lot from her and she feels betrayed. She did, after all, trust us with a lot.'_

There was silence for a few moments as Yugi processed this, then, _"I thought… I hoped… If I kept the secrets from her…"_

'_She wouldn't be caught up in the insanity that seemed to follow the Millennium Items around.'_ Yami understood in a heartbeat. _'It doesn't seem to work like that.'_

"_No… it doesn't."_ Yugi sounded miserable, just as he had done since they'd nearly had to make the decision whether to attack Ryou or not. _"It's not fair…"_

The last was so quiet that Yami was certain that Yugi hadn't meant it to be heard, but it was true. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that their friends and family were always caught up in whatever scheme was going on this time. It wasn't fair that Yugi always had to be on guard against attacks. It wasn't fair that Jamie had to go through this as well as everything else she had suffered and it most defiantly wasn't fair that Yugi had been dragged into danger once again.

'_She's strong, aibou.'_ Yami sighed, _'She'll be over this latest shock and ready to go again before you know it.'_ It wasn't only Jamie's reaction that was scaring Yugi, Yami could sense that far too easily. The Death Duel with Joey earlier had the hikari scared about what Marik could do to his friends if they ended up against him.

To tell the truth Yami had been hoping to have Marik in the first round himself. Bakura, while a pain, didn't tend to waste time and magic gaming those who weren't integral to the Tomb Robber's 'plan' whatever that was. They didn't know Marik well enough to know what he'd pull.

If he was demented enough to set up the games of death that they had fought through up until now, then there was no telling what Marik would do to anyone that got in his way. _'Yugi…'_

"_Yes, Yami?"_ Yugi asked, concerned at Yami's tone.

'_You do know we can't interfere if one of the others gets dragged into a Shadow Game right? Not without serious consequences.'_

"_I know."_ Just two words but they were enough to convey to Yami just how much Yugi hated that restriction, _"It's not right that we can't do anything to help our friends, when they have no magic of their own to defend them."_

'_I know it's not, but those are the rules.'_

"_Well the rules are stupid then."_

It wasn't the first time Yugi had railed against "The Rules" and it probably wouldn't be the last. He was right in that it wasn't fair that they couldn't help an innocent bystander who got caught up in their affairs. Nor was it fair that they couldn't help those who had been caught by unjust penalty games.

But then for all that the Shadow Games had to be fair, no one had ever said that the Shadows themselves had to be.

"There you are Yuge." Joey sounded relieved as Yugi stepped into the buffet room where the bingo machine that would pick the next two opponents was waiting.

"Told you he wouldn't miss it, Joey." Tea scolded her friend. "You should…"

Tea cut off as the machine started and ejected two balls.

"Number 2, Joey Wheeler."

"Oh yeah!" Joey crowed, "My turn."

"Will fight number 7, Marik Ishtar."

Everyone froze except Joey and Marik, who turned to look at each other.

"I'm not going to ever forgive you for what you made me do to Yugi." Joey growled at Marik, who didn't respond at all, "And I'm going to kick your cheating butt right off of this blimp!"

"You could never hope to defeat me. Mr Wheeler." Marik snorted, "Now, let the games begin."

**LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN**

"Mai, you ok?" Jamie asked, inviting her into Bakura's room, having heard Joey's shouting from down the corridor.

"I don't have time, Francis." Mai bit out, angry at Joey for what he'd said in Odeon's room.

"You have ten minutes before the next match is called and you look like you want to rip someone into tiny pieces. You won't play well if you're worked up." The Trainer pointed out.

Mai scowled but entered the room, where Jamie got her a cup of water and Mai took it semi-gratefully, leaning against the wall and trying not to look at Bakura's unconscious form.

"You want to talk about it?" Jamie asked hesitantly, knowing Mai needed to calm down, having blown a couple of really big battles because she'd gone in angry and hadn't thought about any sort of strategy.

"No." Mai grouched at her, earning a bemused chuckle from the Trainer. "What?"

"I'm guessing Joey did something to annoy you." Jamie said as she settled on the back of the sofa, watching as just the mention of Joey's name caused Mai to flinch.

"No. Yes. Gah." Mai glowered into her cup. "He's such a moron."

"What did he do this time?" Jamie asked with a laugh. "Do I need to hit him for it?"

"It wouldn't make any difference." Mai scowled, "He doesn't seem to care what I think anyway."

Jamie winced. Okay, so Joey had to have made a complete idiot of himself. What had he said? "What happened?"

"Ra objected to the guy calling himself Marik using a fake God card and hit both Duellists with lightening. Joey got back up, Odeon, that's the name of the fake Marik, didn't."

"A fake Marik?" Jamie looked shocked.

"That's right; turns out the real Marik's that Namu kid."

"Damn." Jamie kicked the floor, "Fooled everyone."

Mai just nodded.

"So why did this get you mad with Joey?" Jamie prodded, wanting to hear all the details and noting how talking was helping Mai calm down.

"He claims that he had a dream while he was out cold, where his friends helped him get back to his feet and when he woke up, he was stood up, making him the winner."

"And you weren't there." Jamie suddenly understood, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. I probably wasn't there either. Joey's mind probably threw in the friends he knows the best." Jamie shrugged, "I wouldn't let it… wait… does this mean the real Marik's still got to fight?"

"Yes." Mai's tone was one of disgust, having got her fill of Marik from what she'd heard of him when he'd been speaking through Joey. "And apparently it's his evil side now."

"Like he wasn't bad enough before?" Jamie complained. Mai just shrugged and finished the water. "You're going to be careful, right?" Jamie asked the blonde, who she had a great deal of respect for. After all there didn't appear to be many top class female Duellists in the world and Mai was the best. "Marik's a cheating, slimy git and… well…"

Mai smiled at Jamie's concern, "I'll be fine. You look after your boyfriend, okay kid? I'll come see you after my match."

"Kid?" Jamie spluttered, causing Mai to grin, "And he's not my boyfriend." Jamie scowled at her.

Mai just waved it off as she put the glass down. "See you later, kid."

"Good luck Mai." Jamie murmured as the door slid open.

"Luck's for losers." Mai snorted.

"Maybe, but a little luck never hurt." Jamie told her, "So, good luck."

Mai had already turned away, but a small smile crossed her face. "Thanks."

Then the door slid closed.

Jamie sighed as she settled down on the sofa, leaning back against the arm of the chair. This tournament was nothing but bad news…

"The next match will be," Jamie started, sitting up and staring at the small screen by the door, "Duellist number 4, Mai Valentine will fight Duellist number 5, Marik Ishtar!"

"No…" Jamie blanched, fear for her new friend, if she could call Mai that, kicking in and she missed Roland's next words.

She darted to the door and then hesitated. Marik was duelling so in theory it was safe to leave Bakura, but on the other hand Mai hadn't wanted her to go and watch the duel.

Jamie growled and stalked back to the sofa, lying back on it and staring at the ceiling. Mai had promised her that she'd come and see her after the Duel. If she went up there, it might seem like she had no faith in Mai…

"Arceus please," Jamie sent up to the heavens though she doubted the God of Pokémon could hear her, "Look after Mai. Don't let Marik break her."

**LINE_RECOGNTION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN**

"_We have to help her!"_

'_Yugi, we can't!'_

"_If you won't I will!"_ Yami felt Yugi reach for the powers of the Puzzle and growled. Yugi had no idea of what he was getting into by attempting to interfere in the Shadow Game cast by Marik, and Yami was damn well going to make sure that the hikari didn't bring down a Penalty on own his head while trying to help Mai with her game.

'_Let me do it.'_ Yami pushed less than gently at Yugi's mind, relief coursing through him when Yugi surrendered half the power he'd pulled from the Puzzle to his dark, having tried a direct attack on the magic and failed, _'You'll never get anywhere with a direct push.'_

Yami swiftly sent his magic weaving around Mai, searching for cracks in Marik's power and, when he discovered what he was looking for, he used Marik's own spell to dart into Mai's mind, sensing Yugi backing him up.

"Who's there?" Mai asked as they arrived in the darkness that had invaded Mai's mind, shielding her eyes from the bright golden light that deposited them there.

"You're not alone Mai." Yami said, already sensing the objections of the darkness surrounding them, disliking their appearance here, where they had no right to be.

"Yugi?" Mai asked. Not quite but Yami wasn't going to tell her that. He was only grateful that Mai hadn't had his hikari erased from her mind yet.

"You shouldn't be here, Pharaoh!" Marik growled at him.

"I'm here Mai, and the others are cheering you on as well." Yami ignored Marik, not needing Marik to tell him he was breaking one of 'The Rules' of the Shadows, not with the Shadows moving against him.

"Others?" Mai asked weakly.

"Mai!" Joey's voice echoed through the darkness, "Hang in there!"

"That voice..." Mai looked confused, but got to her feet as she looked around.

"He's your friend Mai." Yami promised, mentally joining Yugi in pushing back on the Shadows that were trying to push him out. He didn't have much longer before he was going to be ejected, forcefully, from Mai's mind. "And the others are out there, supporting you, cheering you on. You just have to listen."

Mai gazed at him for a moment and then nodded.

Which was good, because it was that exact moment that Yugi and Yami were forced out of Mai's mind and back into Yugi's body.

"Easy." Tristan whispered, helping them as a wave of dizziness passed through them, though no one else noticed he needed the support. The others were too caught up in the fact Mai was finally picking herself up to do so. "Did you help her?" He asked quietly, noticing that Mai had caught Yugi's eyes as she'd gotten to her feet.

"I hope so." Yami replied with a small nod, hoping that he'd done enough considering he had little energy left to do anything else. He nudged his hikari's mind, concerned that, since he didn't seem to have suffered any ill effects except the exhaustion, that Yugi had taken the Penalty for their actions.

'_Yugi?'_ Yami asked of his hikari, worried when Yugi didn't respond to his first nudge.

"_Tired." _The single word answer was a lie, Yugi was much more than tired, but Yami didn't have time to dart into the corridor between his and Yugi's mind to check on Yugi's safety before Mai started her comeback.

'_Stay in your room, Yugi.'_ Yami responded as the Mai summoned a monster and set a couple of face down cards,_ 'After this Duel, we'll rest, ok?'_

"_Alright."_

**LINE_RECOGNITION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN**

It was the pain that woke Yugi up.

He winced as he moved; taking in his surroundings, pain lancing through him as he did so, trying to work out why there was so much pain was bleeding over the link…

He knew this room. He stayed here whenever Yami was in control of his body, but what was he doing here?

He tried to think, working his way through what had happened since Joey's duel with Odeon as he stood up slowly, the pain making his mind fuzzy

The last thing he remembered was…

Ra!

Suddenly he knew where the pain was coming from. He had darted between Mai, Joey and Ra's attack, but it had been Yami who had shielded them from the worst of it, taking Ra's flames on his back, holding control of the body so that while Yugi had been unable to escape completely unscathed, it had been Yami who had been hurt the most by the hikari's impulsive actions.

Yugi shot out into the corridor. He didn't venture here often, the maze of his other half's mind was dangerous and he'd promised the Pharaoh that he shared his mind with that he wouldn't venture in there when Yami was in control of his body.

But he could sense Yami's pain from behind the almost closed door and didn't hesitate to push it open.

Just beyond the doorway, Yami was led on the floor of his Soul Room, unconscious.

"Yami!" Yugi darted to his dark's side, ignoring his own pain to rush to his dark's aid. He was no medical expert but he knew that the burns on his dark's back weren't good and that if he were to get them treated, the first thing they'd do was clean them.

He'd probably need that treatment himself when he woke up…

For now Yugi attempted to pull his dark into his own Soul Room carefully, wary of injuring Yami any further but needing the powers that his Soul Room granted him in order to help the Pharaoh.

He didn't need to do more than grasp Yami's arm. Energy flowed from the hikari to the yami, weakening Yugi, increasing the pain that flowed through him even as Yami's injuries began to heal. Yugi finally let go when his legs gave out from under him and his vision blurred.

Yami moaned and sat up as Yugi leant against the doorframe then winced and moved away slightly, his own back feeling like it had been burnt.

"Y…Yugi?" Yami looked just as confused as Yugi had been upon awakening. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I think…" Yugi whimpered as he moved closer to his dark, only to get an answering cringe from the Pharaoh when Yami tried to come to Yugi's aid. "I think I've balanced out our injuries." Yugi replied. It certainly felt that way. The pain coming from Yami had lessened in response to Yugi's increasing agony. "Don't ask me how I did it, I don't know."

"Easy Yugi." Yami forced himself to his feet, having always been better at dealing with pain than Yugi had, and helped his hikari up, helping him into his own room, freezing when the memory of what had happened hit him. "What happened to Joey and Mai?"

"I don't know." Yugi replied weakly as Yami got him to his bed, concern for his hikari overriding his concern for the others, "I was knocked out at the same time you were. I'm sorry."

"For what? You weren't the only one who wanted to get between Ra's attack and our friends. We both moved in the same instant." Yami snorted at him, wondering if some of this pain was punishment for their interference in Marik's Shadow Game, "Now promise me you'll stay here for a while," Yami half-ordered, "And I'll find out what's gone on while we've been out cold."

"Yami…" Yugi trailed off with a sigh. With the way he was feeling he wasn't sure he could have moved even if he'd wanted to. "Be careful, ok? I'm not sure I can do this again until the burns from Ra fade."

"I will." Yami promised. "Get some rest. We still have a long way to go and a lot to do."

"I will."

Once Yugi had lain chest down on the bed, having attempted to lie on his back only to let out a pained whimper, Yami darted out into their body and the real world to find out what damage Marik had caused.

**LINE_RECOGNTION_HAS_GONE_AGAIN**

Waking up was not the most pleasant experience that Bakura had ever been through.

Ra's attack on him had been one of the most painful things he'd been through and, with Ryou gone, he'd expected to wake up either in the Shadow Realm or his Soul Room.

He hadn't expected to wake up on the Pharaoh's sofa.

He also hadn't expected to wake up female.

"What in Ra's name?" Bakura murmured as he ran a hand over his body, trying to work out how he had gone from Ryou's (admittedly feminine body) to a body that was smaller, had more curves and, "I'm female? Jamie!" The squeak that erupted from him was not only definitely female, but had Yugi sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Jamie?" The hikari asked sleepily. Luckily it was dark enough that Yugi wouldn't notice the difference between him and the Trainer whose body he was currently using.

"Bad dream. Go back to sleep." Bakura wasn't as good at pretending to be Jamie as he was at pretending to be Ryou, considering that he'd never tried, but he seemed to pull it off well enough that Yugi just nodded and went back to sleep.

Relief coursed through Bakura as he got up and headed for the door, having worked out whose body he was in just milliseconds before Yugi's question and not wanting to get into a Shadow Game with the Pharaoh while in her body.

"Wait." Bakura winced as Yugi spoke again. He turned back towards the hikari, only to find he was going for the Puzzle, "You're not Jamie."

Damn, damn, damn. Well he supposed that, considering the runt had nearly been killed by his brainwashed best friend, Yugi would be on the look out for his friends sounding odd. "So?" Bakura asked, sounding unconcerned.

"Who are you?" Yugi's hand hesitated over the Puzzle, surprising Bakura by giving him a chance to explain himself. He'd have thought, considering what had happened over the last twenty four hours that the first thing the runt would have done was put the Puzzle on.

"Who do you think I am?" Bakura responded, moving towards the bed, letting the Ring that rested on Jamie's chest glow slightly.

"Bakura?" Yugi squeaked, fear crossing his features for a moment, something that Bakura was amused by.

Yugi's hand went to slam down on the Puzzle but Bakura pulled the Puzzle away by the chain, chucking it on the sofa. Yugi scrambled out of bed and almost reached the Millennium item, only for Bakura to grab his wrist and pull him back, pulling the hikari over and dragging the Tomb Robber down with him.

"I don't want to fight you. Not now. Not in this body." Bakura hissed, grabbing the wrist of the hand that Yugi was trying to use to pry Bakura's hand off, and pinning Yugi's wrists above his head. "I don't even want to be IN this body, but Jamie grabbed the Ring and my other is gone so I'm currently stuck in here."

"Let me go." Yugi struggled and squirmed, trying to free himself, causing Bakura to straddle his torso, effectively pinning him to the floor. "JOmmph!" Yugi didn't get to finish his cry for his friend in the next room over as Bakura's hands shifted, one keeping Yugi's wrists pinned and the other covering Yugi's mouth.

"Shut up and listen to me carefully." Bakura growled. Yugi nodded, swallowing as he did so, fear coursing through him, not really having much of a choice when Bakura had him pinned like this.

"I'm going to explain myself and then I'm going to release you. Once I've done so, I will not attack you while I'm in this body." Confusion crossed Yugi's features, but no sound emanated from the boy so Bakura continued, grateful that the boy hadn't decided to try to throw him off. With his own body it wouldn't be an issue, but Jamie's was too small and slight to pin anyone who had been taught how to escape.

He'd been lucky that while Yugi had the advantage over Jamie by a few inches, they were around the same weight and even then if Yugi hadn't panicked he could have quite easily freed himself. Fear was keeping the hikari pinned rather then Jamie's bodyweight.

"I do not want to come to a truce with you or the spirit of your Puzzle at any point," He growled, "But right now I'm at a disadvantage. My true host is gone and I do not want any harm coming to the girl whose vessel I now possess, you understand?"

Yugi nodded.

"I'm not going to attack you for the simple reason that I will not allow anything to happen to Jamie and I don't trust the Pharaoh not to try to get me out of here via a Shadow Game and you know Jamie would want to fight on my behalf."

Again Yugi nodded.

"If you hadn't tried to call the Pharaoh on me, I wouldn't have pinned you. I certainly had no intentions of picking a fight with you this evening. I was going out to the hall where I could think without attracting your attention and avoid retreating into the Ring and waking Jamie up."

"Mmm…" Yugi tried to say something but cut off when he realised that it didn't make sense through the hand covering his mouth.

"If you swear not to scream for help or go for the Puzzle, I'll let you up."

Just the hikari's nod was enough. Bakura removed his hands and got to his feet, keeping between Yugi and the Puzzle but letting the hikari pick himself up.

"So you're hiding in Jamie until Ryou comes back?" Yugi asked, visibly trying to calm himself down, still understandably wary.

"I didn't want Jamie involved in this. I even tried threatening her to get her to stay away, but it didn't work. Now the Ring's picked her until Ryou comes back and I can't do anything about it." He glanced at Yugi who opened his mouth, closed it again and shook his head, "If you were about to say that you'd look after the Ring until Ryou gets back, it doesn't work like that, it would get back to Jamie somehow."

"And you don't trust Yami or me enough to let us look after it anyway." Yugi nodded, understanding.

"Exactly." It worried Bakura how well the Pharaoh's innocent little light understood him. Maybe he had been right and Jamie was making him soft.

Yugi sighed, looking at the Puzzle, "Yami's going to be mad at you." It was a statement rather than a question.

"I am aware of that." Bakura nodded. "I'll take Jamie's body back to my room and she can have the bed for the rest of the night, if you can keep the Pharaoh away from us."

"You can't." Yugi shook his head, "Jamie got the better of Marik in a fight after your game with him. He's going to be looking for revenge and Jamie won't be able to use the Ring to defend herself. Jamie agreed to stay with us so we could stop Marik attacking her."

"Damn." Bakura considered his options, "How much of this is his royal pain in the ass going to be aware of?"

"Depends. He's going to have sensed my fear, but he can't get out of the Puzzle or into my body if I'm not wearing the Puzzle, so it may just be that he knows I got scared but he doesn't know why…"

"But you don't want to lie to him."

"I haven't before; I don't want to start now."

Bakura scowled for a moment, then swore again when he felt Jamie's mind shifting. She was waking up and he didn't want that.

"Bakura?" Yugi asked hesitantly.

"Jamie's waking up."

"Does she know you're in there?"

"I'll inform her tomorrow."

Yugi looked thoughtful. "Pass me the Puzzle and go to sleep. I'll sit on Yami if I have to."

"Why would you help me?" Bakura couldn't understand it.

Yugi just gave him a small smile, "Everyone has someone they want to protect, Bakura, even you. I can understand that well."

"This isn't me going soft, once I get my body back, I will be coming after you again."

"I know." Yugi sounded unconcerned, though Bakura could see it was an act, "But for now, I'll accept your terms. After all, if you're looking after Jamie as well, there's less chance of Marik hurting her."

Bakura snorted and picked the Puzzle up by the chain, tossing it back onto the bed before settling on the sofa. "Night Mutou."

"Good night Bakura." Yugi settled down, trying to rearrange himself so it didn't look like he'd gotten into a fight. Once he was certain that Bakura was asleep, he put his hand on the Puzzle.

Almost instantly he was drawn inside by a concerned Yami.

"What happened?"

Now how to explain that he'd agreed a truce with Bakura to the Pharaoh?


End file.
